Nigeria has become a theatre of sort, entertaining its people and the international community. There are ‘shows’ almost every day in the ‘theatre’ to watch, read or listen to. According to some observers, various events in the country are comical in nature. Last week, it was reported that 5 gunmen invaded a police station around 2:30am in Kogi and killed two policemen and wounded another person.
Various news channels which aired the information perhaps, did so to portray how bewildering and incomprehensible the incident of invasion of a police station could be. Everywhere, a police station, not a gas or railway station, is supposed to be vibrant, especially when insecurity level is high. But a police station and its officers went to sleep, leaving themselves vulnerable.
According to an observer who does not want his name in print, the incident happened without police retaliation which led to the stealing of police guns and other items.
Recently, it was also reported in the media that snake swallowed N36 million belonging to JAMB. Today, there is no clear conclusion on Maina. There was also Ikoyigate where the sum of $43, 449, 947, £27,800 and N23, 218 cash was found in a house. There are many similar jaw-dropping news items including the alleged rat that destroyed President’s office when he was away in London for medical attention.
Then, enters the release of looters’ list by the All Progressives Congress (APC). The list of persons who allegedly looted Nigeria’s treasury contains mostly members of the opposition party, PDP, who are standing trial in various courts and who have not been convicted.
The released list curiously does not contain the names of PDP politicians, who have defected to the APC. Punch Newspaper Cartoon of Wednesday, April 4, and BusinessDay cartoon of April 6, 2018 captured this incident succinctly. The Punch cartoon showed where EFCC was chasing an alleged looter who was holding Umbrella but the EFCC official became confused the moment the looter dropped the Umbrella for the Broom. BusinessDay cartoon illustrated the story differently but with same meaning.
Another worried observer who has been watching the theatrical performance wondered whether these persons who are standing trial would eventually get fair hearing since they have been pronounced “guilty” by the ruling government. He just cautioned that the world is watching Nigeria and its performances in the theatre.
Lawyers believe that there was no need to dramatise the release of the names since some of them are standing trial for various offences. Flaying the APC action, Ferdinand Orbih, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), in a report, described the release of the names as irresponsible.
He said people who were still under trial over corruption allegations were presumed innocent until the cases against them are proven as enshrined in the constitution. “Such persons are presumed innocent until proven otherwise, by the constitution, which the President swore to uphold,” he said. He further said in the report that it seems the Federal Government does not understand what the rule of law or the dynamics of due process entails.
In the same report, Daniel Onwe, Lagos-based lawyer and rights activist, said the publication of the list was a violation of the right to presumption of innocence of those on the list.
“The difference between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is that while one is now in power, the other is out of government. It is just the names that differ. So, where are APC people who were active players in the PDP? Or has the APC become a cleaning pool, rather than a political party?” he asked.
Corruption is a serious issue in Nigeria which has undermined development and economic growth. But the political way it is being handled instead of allowing courts of law to have its say amounts to trivialising and politicising the issue.
Today, some Nigerians do not know the difference between a corrupt serving government official and ex-official. Since the list is one-sided, it would appear in the public court that they are being targeted for victimisation by the APC government, especially as the 2019 election is getting closer.
Nigerians want to see corrupt government officials convicted and sentenced to jail, no matter the political party affiliation. But when a government in power shields ALL its party members and accuses other political party members of looting the treasury, it sounds theatrical and the objective of naming and shaming is not achieved.
Daniel Obi
